Vaccination Risk Through the Lens of Faith, Family, and Community
Abstract
Reasons for vaccine hesitancy, refusal, and acceptance within the Amish and Old Order Mennonite populations reflect the views of the larger society, often citing risks or protective factors as motivating behavior. We use the open-ended comments from a survey of Amish and Old Order Mennonite parents in the Holmes County, Ohio, settlement to explore views on vaccination decisions. We find the Amish and Mennonite respondents talk about vaccine risks and benefits through a moral worldview lens of faith, family, and community. We note the values of the Amish and Old Order Mennonites do not motivate behavior uniformly across all respondents. The findings have important implications for how health care workers provide information and care to people in the Amish community.
Keywords: vaccine, immunization, Amish, vaccine hesitancy
How to Cite:
Stein, R., Corcoran, K. & Colyer, C., (2025) “Vaccination Risk Through the Lens of Faith, Family, and Community”, The Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities 5(2), 1-19. doi: https://doi.org/10.18061/jpac.v5i2.10526
Downloads
Download PDF